New Delhi: Giving marginal respite amid a spurt of Covid cases in countries like China, Japan, Hong Kong, and South Korea, Dr M Wali, Physician in Sir Ganga Ram Hospital in New Delhi, on Sunday (January 1) said that the new Covid variant of XBB.1.5 is not virulent in India as 90 per cent of the eligible population has been vaccinated. He said,
These new variants including XXB.1.5 are not more virulent in India as our 90 per cent eligible population are vaccinated and 30-40 per cent have administered booster doses.
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Taking note of three Covid-infected international passengers who flew down to Gujarat from Australia and China, Dr Wali said,
Three international passengers including passengers coming from Australia and China. found positive. In Rajkot, a woman and her fiancee have been found infected. Both were coming from abroad with their two-year-old daughter.
Rightly stressing immunities’ importance to fight against the virus, Dr M Wali said,
A booster dose, good immunity, first infection, vaccination, altogether minuscules the virulence of the virus. Persons infected with these viruses, do not need to be admitted to a hospital, they just need to be isolated and their samples should be sent for genome sequencing.
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Citing review meetings conducted by Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya and PM Modi’s 4Ts of Test, Track Treat, and Teeka, Dr Wali said,
Be cautious, don’t step outside unnecessarily, keep your elder and children isolated. Follow Covid-appropriate behaviour and most importantly mask up.
Earlier this month, Union Health Ministry made RT-PCR reports mandatory for all international passengers travelling from China, Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, Singapore and Thailand to India before departure and upload a report on the Air Suvidha portal from January 1, 2023.
This was in addition to the random 2 per cent tests of all international passengers on their arrival in India irrespective of the port of departure.
It was said that the test should have been conducted within 72 hours of undertaking the journey to India.
The decision was taken in view of the evolving COVID-19 situation worldwide, particularly in the aforesaid countries.
Also Read: India Prepares For Plausible COVID-19 Outbreak, Conducts Mock Drills At Hospitals
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
NDTV – Dettol have been working towards a clean and healthy India since 2014 via the Banega Swachh India initiative, which is helmed by Campaign Ambassador Amitabh Bachchan. The campaign aims to highlight the inter-dependency of humans and the environment, and of humans on one another with the focus on One Health, One Planet, One Future – Leaving No One Behind. It stresses on the need to take care of, and consider, everyone’s health in India – especially vulnerable communities – the LGBTQ population, indigenous people, India’s different tribes, ethnic and linguistic minorities, people with disabilities, migrants, geographically remote populations, gender and sexual minorities. In wake of the current COVID-19 pandemic, the need for WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene) is reaffirmed as handwashing is one of the ways to prevent Coronavirus infection and other diseases. The campaign will continue to raise awareness on the same along with focussing on the importance of nutrition and healthcare for women and children, fight malnutrition, mental wellbeing, self care, science and health, adolescent health & gender awareness. Along with the health of people, the campaign has realised the need to also take care of the health of the eco-system. Our environment is fragile due to human activity, which is not only over-exploiting available resources, but also generating immense pollution as a result of using and extracting those resources. The imbalance has also led to immense biodiversity loss that has caused one of the biggest threats to human survival – climate change. It has now been described as a “code red for humanity.” The campaign will continue to cover issues like air pollution, waste management, plastic ban, manual scavenging and sanitation workers and menstrual hygiene. Banega Swasth India will also be taking forward the dream of Swasth Bharat, the campaign feels that only a Swachh or clean India where toilets are used and open defecation free (ODF) status achieved as part of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2014, can eradicate diseases like diarrhoea and the country can become a Swasth or healthy India.
